Strait of Hormuz Tanker Traffic Stalls Amid U.S.-Iran Escalation

The disruption follows a weekend of intense military engagement that shattered a fragile ceasefire. On Thursday, the container ship Ever Lovely came under fire, prompting immediate U.S. retaliatory strikes. By Saturday morning, the situation worsened when a one-way attack drone struck the Panama-flagged Kiku, which was carrying over 2 million barrels of crude oil. CENTCOM officials stated that the strike occurred despite Iran being offered a window to maintain the truce.

Shipping data from Kpler confirms that traffic volumes have dropped significantly since the weekly peak observed on June 24. While both inbound and outbound transit activity shows signs of a tentative resumption as the U.S. and Iran move toward potential new talks this week, the risk remains high. Many operators are opting for caution rather than resuming regular schedules, as the security environment in this critical maritime bottleneck remains fractured.